THE PRESIDENT: Welcome, please be seated. It's a beautiful day to
welcome a bunch of champs to the White House. I want to welcome you
all, I want to welcome the teams. Thanks for coming.

Thank you, Senators, for being here. I see Senators Dodd, Dayton.
I -- Senator Lieberman's on his way, I know that for a fact. I want
to thank my friend Johnny Rowland, the Governor of Connecticut here.
He told me, he said, the Connecticut women's basketball team is pretty
good this year. I said, oh, yeah? He said, no, they're real good.
And I said, well, how good? He said, they're going to go undefeated.
I said, sure, Governor. Thanks for making me look bad, Johnny.
(Laughter.)

Senator Wellstone, thanks for coming, as well, honored you're
here.

I want to thank the representatives from the universities. My good
friend, Mark Yudof, is here from the University of Minnesota. I want
to thank Don Lucia, as well, the head coach of the men's hockey team.
I want to congratulate the Minnesota team; you won it in dramatic
fashion. And you had to let down your -- change your immigration
laws to allow somebody from North Dakota to come in to score.
(Laughter.) But it was a great victory.

I want to thank Kathryn Martin and Shannon Miller, from the
University of Minnesota-Duluth women's hockey team, for coming back
again. It was a repeat performance by a great group of athletes. I
want to congratulate you all for winning it two years in a row.

I want to thank and welcome Geno Auriuma. Is that right?

MR. AURIEMMA: Auriemma.

THE PRESIDENT: Auriemma. Okay, fine. (Laughter.) I've never
been too good in English. (Laughter.) But he's a heck of a coach,
however he says his name. (Laughter.)

I want to congratulate the UConn women's basketball team for an
unbelievable season. It -- what great athletes, and were really fun
to watch.

And then, much to the delight of thousands of people around here,
and many who work upstairs in the White House, the mighty Terps of
Maryland are the NCAA Champions. (Applause.)
I want to congratulate
Dan Mote, the President, and Gary Williams, the Coach. You guys need
to know that there's a lot of people that were stepping a little
lighter in my family, as well who work in this compound when you won.
It was a great feat in an unbelievably tough field. And so,
congratulations to you all.

You've now got a -- you showed some things that I think are
important for our country, particularly at this time, that if you
served something greater than yourself, called a team, you can achieve
great things. If you recognize that life is more than just an
individual record, that if you recognize there are -- something
bigger than an individual accomplishment, you can win. You can win in
a broader sense. And to me, that's what these championships mean.

It's kind of what our country has got to do, as well. If we serve
something greater than materialism, self-absorption, we can do some
great things as a country. Starting with loving our neighbor like we'd
like to be loved ourselves; making sure the country is as hopeful and
promising as it can possibly be.

As well as the result of being champs -- I mean big-time champs
-- you've now got a lot of people looking at you, a lot of kids
wondering, how does a champ behave; what does a champ do when they win
the crown? It's a great opportunity to set an example for other
people, to help people understand they're responsible for the decisions
they make in life. You have that chance right now as a champ.

You've been champs on the field and on the courts and on the
rinks. Now you can be champs off, and do your country a great
service.

It's my honor to welcome you all here. I love championship day at
the White House. I love to be around success. I hope you cherish
these memories in winning these great championships for a long time
coming, and use them as an opportunity to work to make your nation the
best it can possibly be.